Always the last to know
by groovymumma
Summary: "I gotta see you Doc. It's an emergency." Habib sighed. "It's always an emergency with you Will. Why don't you try coming to your weekly appointments like everyone else? You're not the only patient I have, you know." "I know, Doc, and I get it, but this time it's different." Post season two. Fluffier than you might think. Now with added epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

_Evening all. I've been enjoying everyone's Newsroom stories so much lately, I thought I'd better have another stab at writing one myself. Please let me know what you think, and don't be put off by the beginning – I promise it won't be as angsty as Unforeseen Consequences._

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock.

No answer.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"C'mon Habib, I know you're in there. Open up!"

The door cracked open a fraction and Dr Habib appeared in the gap, trying to look stern.

"Will McAvoy. I never would have guessed."

"I gotta see you Doc. It's an emergency."

Habib sighed. "It's always an emergency with you Will. Why don't you try coming to your weekly appointments like everyone else? You're not the only patient I have, you know."

"I know, Doc, and I get it, but this time it's different. I think Mac's cheating on me again."

Habib took a closer look at Will. "Okay, just this one time I will squeeze you in. Hang in there for a little bit longer, okay?"

"Okay, thanks Doc, I really appreciate it."

Will paced restlessly around the waiting room for another ten minutes until the door opened again. The woman who'd been in with Habib gave Will a dirty look on her way out, and the doctor motioned Will through into his office.

He waited until Will was seated in the overstuffed chesterfield before he spoke.

"So, we'll get to why you think Mackenzie is cheating on you in a minute, but for now I just want to ask how you've been lately? You've missed quite a few sessions, which you know I don't recommend, but I thought it was because you were happy?"

"I am happy. I was happy. Being married to Mac is like," Will struggled to find the words to describe it. "I mean, I could say it's like being a kid on Christmas morning, but it's not like any Christmas I ever knew growing up. It's like I'm invincible. I'm glad Dantana dropped the lawsuit, mostly because of what it was doing to Mac, but even if he hadn't, we'd still be okay because we have each other."

Habib nodded. "Go on, Will."

"I've never had that before, not with anyone. Don't get me wrong, we still argue at work, but it's not to hurt any more, it's just because we enjoy the sparring, and goddamn that woman is stubborn, and strong, and magnificent. And it doesn't matter what happens during the day, it doesn't matter how much shit the world throws at us, because we can still go home at night and, well," Will broke off as he saw Habib's smile.

"Never you mind what we do at night, you're not old enough to know about that anyway, Doogie Howser. Suffice to say that I've never been this happy in my entire life. I must be walking around all day with a big goofy grin on my face, because people either smile back or look at me like I've lost the plot. And I don't _care_. I don't care what anyone thinks of me, I don't care about anyone's opinion except Mac's, and she tells me every day that she loves me, and that I'm a good man."

"That's great to hear Will. I'm really pleased for both of you. So what has changed recently?"

Will crashed back to earth with a thud. "It started a few weeks ago. We got home one night after a long day and Mac didn't want to – you know. She said she was too tired."

"That sounds pretty normal in a long term relationship, Will. You can't expect to stay in the honeymoon phase forever, and a woman's libido can sometimes be lower than a man's."

"I know all that, you don't have to tell me about the birds and the bees, Doogie. But Mac and I have always – you don't need to know the details – but Mac and I have always been very compatible in that department."

"Okay, so what happened after that?"

"Well, I tried not to read too much into it, and we did make love the next night, but she didn't want me to touch her the way that I normally do."

"Did she say why?"

"She just said that things were a bit more sensitive than usual and to go easy on her."

"And since then?"

"She's been going to bed really early, almost as soon as we get home from doing the show. She's always asleep by the time I come to bed."

"It that the only reason you think she's having an affair?" asked Habib.

"No, it's not. I know something's worrying her, but she won't tell me what it is. She just brushes it off and says that she's fine. But she's not. She seems really distracted, and a couple of times she's started to tell me something and then broken off like she's too scared to do it. She's more emotional than usual too. I swear she was trying not to cry in the run down meeting the other day when we were discussing a story about a kid that got kidnaped. I remember her being all tearful like that just before she told me about Brian."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, she's been picking at her food. I love making her favourite dishes, because I get to watch her eat them, and then afterwards she usually shows me how much she appreciates my cooking by" Will coughed, embarrassed. "Well, anyway, I like to cook for her, but lately she's just been pushing the food around on her plate. The other night she only ate about three bites of my fettuccine carbonara, and then half an hour later I caught her sneaking crackers out of the pantry," Will finished indignantly.

Habib raised his hand to his mouth to cover his smile.

"I'm glad you find this so fucking entertaining!" Will exploded. "Do you have any idea what it would do to me if Mac is cheating again?"

Habib stopped smiling, and nodded seriously.

"It would finish me," Will went on more quietly. "I would be dead inside. I would never trust another human being again."

"I know Will. I understand. You've opened your heart completely to Mackenzie, made yourself vulnerable again, and you're terrified of getting hurt. But I don't think that your fear has any foundation in reality. It doesn't sound to me as though Mac is being unfaithful."

"It doesn't? How could you possibly know that?"

"I can't know for sure, but let me just sum it up for you. Mac is unusually tired and emotional, she's extra sensitive during sex, she's off her food and acting like she has a secret that she's not telling you, and the only explanation you can think of is that she's cheating on you?"

"What other explanation is there?"

Habib sighed again. "Let me take another tack. When exactly would she be meeting this lover? I thought you two spent just about every minute together."

"We do. And I love it, it's never too much for me. But lately she keeps leaving work for 'doctor's appointments', even though she's not sick. That's the other thing I didn't tell you," said Will, looking guilty.

"What have you done Will?"

"Today, I followed her. I'm not proud of my behaviour, okay?" said Will defensively, seeing the disapproving frown on Habib's face. "But I had to know. It was eating me up. So as soon as she left work I caught a cab to her doctor's building, and paid the driver extra to run a few lights so that I would get there before her. She never came." Will took a few deep breaths before continuing. "I waited for an hour and then I told the driver to bring me here."

Habib studied him closely. "Will, I have to see my next patient in a few minutes, and you definitely need to show up for your appointment next week so that we can talk about your trust issues, but right now I need you to listen to me very carefully. I don't think Mackenzie is cheating on you, in fact I'm almost sure that she isn't, but you need to talk to her about this."

"Ask her if she's cheating, you mean?"

"No! That would be incredibly hurtful to her. Just get her alone, and tell her that you're worried about her because she's tired and not eating and acting strange, and see what she says."

"If you think that's a good idea."

"I do Will, I really do. And do me a favour? Don't do it in a commercial break, or just before a rundown meeting. At least wait until after tonight's show, okay?"

"Okay Doc. But you better be right about this."


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the reviews everyone. I know that Will is being unbelievably dense, but if he wasn't then I would have no plot! Hopefully he will stop listening to his neuroses soon and start engaging his rather large brain._

* * *

Mac was already in her office by the time Will got back to the newsroom, and he made a beeline straight for her. Fuck, even suspecting what he did, he still couldn't seem to stay away. How pathetic was he?

She looked up from her work and smiled when he came in. She didn't look like a woman who'd just been for an illicit roll in the hay with another lover. Her tailored blouse was sitting neatly against her creamy skin, and her hair was still in the smooth, shiny style that he loved so much. Damn if she didn't give him an ache. And was it just him, or was her cleavage looking even more amazing than usual today? Surely that wasn't possible. Maybe it was just a new bra.

"Hey Billy, where were you?"

Shit, it hadn't even occurred to him to think up an explanation for his own prolonged absence.

"Uh, sorry, I forgot that I had an appointment with Dr Habib."

Mac's brow furrowed with concern. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine, it was just routine. How about you? How was your doctor's appointment?"

Mac looked back down at her desk and shuffled the papers before looking up and giving him an over bright smile. "Yeah, it was all okay, nothing to worry about."

Well, shit, that was informative. And she only did that smile when she was hiding something.

"Okay, well, I'd better get back to work then," he muttered awkwardly. "Good idea, Will. That script won't write itself, you know." Another fake smile.

"Okay then, I'll see you in the rundown at six." She just nodded, seemingly engrossed in her work again. He left.

* * *

Will didn't pay much attention during the rundown meeting. He didn't need to listen in to know that he was opposed to pretty much everything Rand Paul had ever said, and besides, he was too caught up in his own thoughts. She still smelled like Mackenzie, he reasoned, not like some other guy, but then of course she was smart enough to take a shower and put her own perfume back on afterwards. Shit, how could he even think such a thing about her? He' dished out five years of pain and she'd been nothing but amazing towards him. But then why hadn't she been at her doctor's appointment today? Where had she really been? It wasn't like her to lie about anything, oh yeah, except for that thing with Brian. Round and round he went, trapped inside his own head, and for a wonder Mac didn't call him out on his inattention. Clearly, he wasn't the only one who was distracted.

Mac came in to tie his tie for him as he was dressing to go on air, just as she had every night since they'd got back together. It was their little ritual, a chance to take a minute out from the hectic pace of the newsroom, a chance to just _be_ together. For Will, it was the highlight of his day.

She was standing in front of him, head bent, concentrating on achieving the perfect Windsor knot (always a perfectionist when it came to the show, that was his Mackenzie). He reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling her slightly closer to him. She looked up, expecting a kiss, but instead he gazed intently into her eyes.

"I love you Mac. I love you so much, you know? I managed to live without you once, well almost, but I don't think I could do it again."

A sheen of tears formed in her beautiful brown eyes as she stared back at him. "I know Billy, I love you too. And you know that I would never intentionally do anything to jeopardize what we have, right?"

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? And why was she crying, for God's sake? This was not good. This was very far from good. He almost blurted out his fears right then and there, but he remembered his promise to Habib. He couldn't do this just before they went on air, not if she was about to rip his heart out and feed it to him again.

"Mac?" he managed to get out past the lump in his throat. "Don't mind me," she said, brushing the tears away with the back of her hand. "I'm just being silly and emotional. But Will," she hesitated, and then ploughed on, "we should have a talk after the show, okay?"

"A talk?" he echoed numbly.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about, like I said. Now get out there and knock 'em dead for me." She kissed him quickly on the cheek and then she was out the door before he could ask the follow up.

* * *

The show went okay for the first forty minutes, which was a miracle considering that Will couldn't stop replaying that last scene with Mac over and over in his head, analysing every word for hidden meaning. She'd said that she would never _intentionally_ jeopardise their relationship. Could you cheat on someone accidentally? What else could she have done? Why was she so sad? What the hell did she want to _talk_ about?

He got through the NSA surveillance lead in okay, and followed up with the drone strike in North Waziristan, but he didn't really fire up until the C block, when he got to the story on Rand Paul's voting record. God knows he felt like tearing into someone. He was just sorry that they hadn't been able to book the Tea Party Senator as a guest so that he could do it in person. "Attaboy, Billy," Mac told him at the end of the segment. Usually, that would be a huge turn on for him, but now he didn't know whether to throw his cell phone at the camera again or just starting weeping into his coffee. Instead, he just sat there, paralysed, as they cut to commercial.

It wasn't until he was outlining the progress of the tornado clean up efforts in Oklahoma that things started to unravel. He heard a strange sighing noise in his ear, followed a couple of seconds later by a loud thump. Startled, he lost his place on the teleprompter. What the fuck?

More interference came through his earpiece, as though Mac were taking off her headset, and then Jim's voice came through clearly. "Will, you need to start talking again."

Oh shit, he'd stopped dead in the middle of a sentence. He started reading again, but glared into the camera, trying to convey to Jim that if he didn't tell him what the fuck was going on in that control room in the next five seconds he was going to storm in and find out for himself, live broadcast or no.

Jim must have got the message, because he started talking in Will's ear again. "Look Will, it's nothing to worry about, but Mac just got a bit dizzy there for a minute, so I'm taking over while she takes a short break."

Will's stomach dropped. That thump better not have been Mac's head hitting the ground, or he was gonna have to kill someone for not catching her on the way down. Was she alright? What was wrong with her? Mac never fainted; she was the toughest woman he knew.

His fear must have shown on his face, because Jim was still talking. "Look, okay, she did pass out a little bit," _how the fuck did someone pass out a little bit?_ "but she came round almost straight away and is already trying to snatch her headset back from me. Just cut to commercial early and you can come round and see for yourself."

"And we'll be back right after this short message from our sponsors," he wrapped up. Unless Mac was hurt, in which case he was taking her straight to the nearest ER, and the show could go fuck itself.

He made it round to the control room in record time, to find Mac half sitting, half lying on the floor. A concerned looking Joey was at her back, supporting her from behind while Jim knelt in front of her to tend the bleeding graze on her forehead.

She was pale, far too pale with a slightly greenish tinge to her skin, but she tried to rise when she saw Will. He was at her side in an instant, shoving Jim out the way and pulling her gently into his arms. "Mac, sweetheart, what happened? Are you okay? Do you need to go the hospital?"

"Will, I'm fine, calm down, I just got a little dizzy for a minute." She was leaning heavily on his shoulder and talking into his neck, so her voice was a little muffled, but it still sounded weak to Will, nothing like her usual firm tone. He tightened his hold on her with one arm and smoothed her hair back gently with his other hand, kissing the top of her head as he did so.

His mind was racing. Fainting wasn't a symptom of infidelity, not as far as he knew. Maybe Mac had been visiting a different doctor, a specialist, and that was what she hadn't wanted to tell him. What was she hiding? Heart problems? Cancer? God couldn't be so cruel, not when they'd only just found each other again. But she'd been crying a lot lately. And then there was Habib, hinting that there was another explanation for Mac's behaviour. Had he figured it out? Surely he couldn't think for a minute that Will would prefer a sick Mac to an unfaithful Mac. Oh God, what was wrong with her?

"Thirty seconds back," Herb broke in apologetically.

Will drew Mac closer to his chest and looked up at Jim and Herb defiantly. "I'm not leaving her."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks again for the reviews. You guys are really keeping me motivated here!_

_ I hope you enjoy this next chapter as we all get confirmation of just how stupid Will is being in this story :-)__  
_

* * *

"I'm not leaving her."

"Like hell you're not, McAvoy." Well, at least that sounded a bit more like the Mac that he knew and loved.

She pushed at his chest until he relaxed his hold, and then sat up straight so that she was facing him. "If you are not sitting at that desk and ready to read the news in the next twenty-five seconds, William McAvoy, I will personally haul your ass back there myself, and I don't care if I pass out again in the process."

Shit. He knew she would do it, too. No-one was allowed to mess with Mac's show, not even him. _Especially_ not him.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm going, but only on the condition that you stay exactly where you are for the rest of the broadcast and promise me that you won't try to get up or take over from Jim. I don't want you passing out again." And wasn't that a huge understatement. Please, God, let her be okay.

"I promise, Will." She cupped his cheek tenderly, and he was relieved to see a little colour coming back in to her face. "I won't move from this spot until you come back and get me."

He gave her a soft kiss on her temple before reluctantly turning her over to Jim, who was still hovering with the first aid kit.

He got as far as the glass doors before turning back. "Hey Jim?"

Jim stopped swabbing Mac's graze and turned around.

"Yes, Will?"

"I'll double your annual bonus if you can find a way to end the show early tonight."

"_Billy_!" Mac's indignant yell followed him down the corridor as he headed back to the anchor desk.

* * *

Will speed-talked his way through the D block, the teleprompter barely able to keep up, until Jim came into his ear with a "Mac wants me to tell you that she's going to come into the studio right now and bludgeon you with a blunt object if you don't slow the fuck down."

Well, it had been worth a try. He backed off a bit after that, but not too much, and by 8.57 Jim was telling him "DC's online and ready to go now. You can throw to Jane if you want."

Jane Barrow couldn't stand any of them, especially since Genoa when she had announced to the control room that she would shortly be taking over the anchor seat in New York. Will fleetingly wondered what Jim had had to promise her to get her to lead in early. That kid was going to get a nice surprise when he opened his Christmas pay check, Will would make sure of it.

"I'm Will McAvoy and this was Newsnight for Friday the seventh of June. It's time now for the Capitol report with Jane Barrow. Good night and thanks for watching."

_Mac. _That was the single thought in his head as he once more pushed his chair back and dashed for the control room. Was she okay? Getting Jim to tell him to slow the fuck down didn't sound like something a seriously ill person would do, but with Mackenzie you never knew. Feisty and brave was her default setting.

Mac was sitting in a chair now rather than on the floor, but she was otherwise exactly where he had left her. Good, it looked as though she had kept her promise. Her colour was better too, and although she had a small piece of sticking plaster on her forehead, Will couldn't see any blood. Joey was back in his seat at the Graphics desk, and Jim was standing in Mac's usual spot in the middle of the control room. Herb was on the phone, probably to the DC Control room, thanking them for taking over early.

They all turned to look as he entered, but he only had eyes for Mac. He crossed to her and knelt in front of her chair, placing one hand gently on her knee and pushing her bangs back so that he could get a better look at her forehead.

"How are you feeling now, Mac?"

"Fine Billy, I'm totally fine." She pulled his hand away from her head and placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles to reassure him.

"Okay then, let's get you to the ER so that a doctor can check you out," he said, starting to rise so that he could help her up.

"You're overreacting, Billy," she said, pushing him back down. "I was only out for a second or two, and I'm not concussed at all-" she suddenly narrowed her eyes at him "-although you will certainly be suffering from a head injury if you _ever_ talk that fast during a broadcast again. What the _hell _were you thinking?"

He was thinking that he loved her and that he was scared to death that something was wrong with her, but he didn't want to blurt that out in front of Joey, Herb and Jim. Instead, he looked to Jim for confirmation of the first part of her statement.

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a concussion, but you should definitely keep an eye on her tonight and call an ambulance if she gets unusually drowsy or her headache gets worse," said Jim diplomatically.

"Okay, okay," said Will, turning back to Mac, "but what the hell made you faint in the first place?"

Instead of answering, Mac looked around at her team. "Guys, could you give us the room please?"

"Sure Mac."

"Take it easy."

"Look after her Will."

Herb, Joey and Jim filed out, closing the door behind them.

Will took a deep breath. "Please Mac, you have to tell me what's going on. You've been so tired lately, and not eating properly, and going to lots of doctor's appointments, and now you're fainting during the show. What's wrong?"

Mac took both of his hands in hers and squeezed them gently. "Oh, Billy, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry, I just didn't know how to tell you." She bit her lip nervously. "No, that's not true. I was scared to tell you."

His stomach tightened and it was his turn to feel lightheaded. He felt as though he was reliving the Brian confession, the worst moment of his life. "Tell me what?" he asked hoarsely.

"It's just that, when we got back together, I was so confident that it would work this time, because I _knew _I would never be unfaithful to you, and I didn't think there was anything else I could do that would make you reject me." She pulled her right hand from his and pressed it to her mouth, her face crumpling. "And now I'm just so terrified that I've fucked everything up again."

He seized her shoulder with his free hand, trying not to squeeze too hard in his panic. "Please Mac, please just tell me, whatever it is."

She took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

_Thank God_. She wasn't cheating, she wasn't dying of some horrible disease, hang on a second, did she just say she was –

"_Pregnant_? How on earth did that happen?"

She shrugged ruefully. "We've been pretty busy in the bedroom since we got back together," _had they ever_, "and even though I've been really careful with the pill, it's only 99.9 per cent effective, and the doctor said that someone had to be the 0.1 per cent, and I guess it's us. Do you mind terribly?"

He just stared at her, completely shocked. A baby? They were having a baby?

She mistook his silence for anger and rushed on. "Please, please don't think that I did this deliberately. I mean, I know I'm not very maternal in general, and we haven't really talked about kids since we've been back together, but I've always loved the thought of having your baby, and please, please just tell me that I haven't ruined our relationship for good."

The desperation in her voice finally penetrated the fog in his brain. She was carrying his child, and she thought she had to _apologise_ for it? She was scared that he was going to throw her out of his life again, the way he had when she'd told him about Brian?

He knelt up and pulled her into his arms. She was trembling slightly, and he cursed himself for treating her so badly in the past. "Mac, sweetheart, please don't cry, I was just a little shocked, that's all, but it's wonderful news."

"It is?" she sniffed.

"Of course it is!" He slid his hands from her back and cupped her cheek with one hand, brushing away a tear with the other. "You know how I feel about you Mac. You're the only person that I truly love in this world."

"What about Charlie? Your sisters?"

He shook his head. "It's not the same. The way I feel about you, it's almost too much, too intense, and I think it scared you off the first time."

She gave him a watery smile. "It doesn't scare me off now."

"I know, and that's what's so amazing. I can pour all this love onto you, all these feelings that I never had a place for until I met you. It doesn't matter how many ridiculous gifts I buy you, or how often we make love, you never seem to tire of me."

She opened her mouth to object to the idea that she could tire of him, but he cut her off.

"And now, you're offering me another person to love unconditionally, another person who is half you-"

"And half you," she interrupted.

He shook his head as though that was unimportant. "Another member of our little family, to spoil and protect, a second person in the world I can love the way I love you? Who might even love me back one day? Mac," his voice broke, "I didn't think it was possible to love you more than I already did, until you told me that you were going to be the mother of my child."

Her face lit up in the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, and he lent forwards to kiss her, trying to show her everything he felt with the touch of his lips. She threw her arms around him and kissed him back, the tears on her cheeks mixing with his own.

Eventually, they had to come up for air, and she used the back of her hand to wipe the last few tears from her eyes. He bent his head to her still-flat stomach and pressed a gentle kiss against her skirt. "Little person in there?" he whispered. "You have the best mommy in the whole world. And I'll try to be a good daddy too, okay?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you readers and reviewers. Please don't be cross when I say that this is the last chapter – this was originally intended as a one shot and I've come to the end of my plot line now – unless you would like a '7 months later' kind of epilogue? Because I do have one of those kicking around in my brain._

* * *

Ten minutes later, they were still necking on the floor of the control room like a pair of teenagers, his hand inside her shirt and her fingers fumbling with his belt buckle. Kissing her stomach and whispering to their baby had inspired Mac to throw herself on top of him. He certainly hadn't objected. It wasn't until they heard one of the control room doors further down the corridor slam shut that they remembered where they were.

Mac blushed rosily. "Oh my goodness, I really hope no one walked past those glass doors after the guys left," she giggled, doing up his belt again.

"Nah, Jim's a good kid, I'm sure he would have told everyone to steer clear," said Will, although he was blushing a bit himself. Public displays of anger, sure, he had those cornered (although since he'd got back together with Mac they were mostly for show). Public displays of affection were not his thing. When he was alone with Mac he could let himself go, be completely himself, but that didn't mean he wanted anyone else to see him like that.

Reluctantly, he removed his hand from her breast (yup, they _were_ even more amazing than usual, he hadn't been wrong about that) and refastened the buttons on her blouse. He stood and reached down to help Mac up, before settling her carefully back into her chair.

"Jesus, Will, I'm pregnant, not breakable you know!" she exclaimed, although her smile robbed the words of any real anger.

"I know," he said, sitting down on the desk in front of her. "I understand now why you've been tired and off your food and off sex-"

"I'm not _off_ sex," she clarified. "I'm just so exhausted by the time we get home in the evenings, and there was that one night when I really wanted to but I was worried that I was going to barf all over you half way through-"

"You've been throwing up?" he interrupted.

She nodded guiltily. "Mostly in the mornings. I wake up early, vomit in the toilet, brush my teeth and then come back to bed before the alarm goes off."

"Mac!" He was horrified. "That ends right now. If you feel sick, you wake me up and I'll come and hold your hair for you and rub your back, okay?" he said sternly. She nodded and tried to look cowed, but her twinkling eyes gave her away. "Even better, I'll get up first and bring you crackers and lemonade in bed. That way you might not have to be sick every morning."

"That sounds wonderful," she sighed, leaning in for another kiss.

Will shook his head and held her off, refusing to be diverted from the subject of her health. "Mac, I know all that stuff is normal, but you shouldn't be fainting at work, should you? What does your doctor say? Are you sure everything is okay?"

She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Will, I saw the obstetrician yesterday for the first time, and she told me that she wished all her patients were as healthy as I am. I stood up too quickly when Joey queued up the wrong graphics for the tornado, that's all. I promise I won't do it again."

"That's as may be, but I want to hear what the doctor has to say for myself," he grumbled. He didn't trust Mac to follow doctor's orders if they conflicted with running her beloved show, and he was also feeling a bit hurt that she'd gone to the appointment without him, even though he knew that he only had his own past behaviour to blame. "When _were_ you going to tell me?" he couldn't help asking.

"I promise I was going to tell you tonight, Will, even before I-"

"Fainted in the middle of a show?"

"Yeah, even before that. I'm booked for my first scan tomorrow, and I would never deny you the chance to see your child for the first time, assuming that you wanted to," she finished awkwardly.

He looked at her for a long moment. "Mac, I'm sorry that I hurt you so badly in the past that you were too scared to tell me that you were pregnant. There is nothing you could ever do that would make me love you less, do you believe me?"

"I do," she said. "I feel the same way. And besides, I hurt you first," she said sadly.

Will shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. We have to put it all behind us now. We're going to be parents. Parents, Mac! I can hardly believe it."

"Do you think we're too old?" she asked hesitantly.

"I might be, but you're not."

She smiled "Well, old man, I wish you would ask them to stop writing 'advanced maternal age' on all my medical records then. I'm only thirty-nine, after all."

"Seriously Mac, we'll be fine. We're intelligent, well resourced, and we love each other. We'll figure it out."

"But we don't exactly have jobs that lend themselves to raising little people. We both work crazy hours, you know we do," she said, stretching her neck to one side and then the other in an attempt to work out the kinks.

He watched her affectionately. She had to be exhausted, he could see it in her eyes, but this conversation was too important to just let it drop. "C'mere," he said, rolling her chair closer to him and then turning it around so that he could massage her sore muscles.

Mac groaned and let her head fall back onto his chest as he started working the knots out of her shoulders. "Oh God, Billy, that feels sooo good. Your hands are just amazing. You know I can't concentrate when you're touching me, though."

"Shhh," he said. "Just relax." He found a particularly tight spot and pressed down hard, causing her to moan again.

"Mac, you'll be distracting me too if you keep moaning like that," he complained. She had her eyes closed, but the look of total bliss on her face wasn't helping either.

She opened her eyes for a second and twinkled up at him. "Sorry," she said, not looking the least bit sorry. "I promise I'll be quiet if you just keep doing that right there, oh yes, like that-"

Will shook his head at her inability to stop talking, and tried to remember what they had been discussing. Babies. That was it. Babies not being compatible with the hours they worked. _Oh my God, they were having a baby_. He still couldn't get his head around it.

"So here's the thing about babies, Mac. They're morning people," he said, working on the base of her neck now.

She cracked open one eye and regarded him sceptically. "And just how do you know so much about babies, Mr McAvoy?"

"Three younger siblings, two nieces and four nephews," he said smugly.

"I accept your sources. Please continue with your lecture, and your massage."

He complied. "So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-"

She poked her tongue out at him, but he refused to rise to the bait.

"Babies are morning people, so once you come back to work-" he wasn't stupid enough to ask whether she wanted to come back to work; he knew better than to piss off a pregnant lady "-one or both of us can stay home with the kid each morning, we could even do the ten am meeting by teleconference, and then we can hire a nanny for the afternoons and evenings, and we can sneak into the kid's room when we get home from the show and kiss them goodnight. We could even start with a nanny and a nursery at work, especially if you're planning on nursing for a while."

Mac screwed up her face in thought. "I guess that could work. I don't know Will," she sighed. "I just feel so out of my depth."

He pulled her into a tight hug. "We'll be fine Mac. Having a kid is like throwing out the run down and doing the whole show with nothing on the monitor, and you know how good we are at that. Now c'mon," he said, helping her up and then placing a hand at the small of her back to guide her to the door. "You're exhausted and I want to get you home to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow, we're going to see our baby for the first time." _Unbelievable_.

"Don't get too excited," she snorted. "Apparently it'll look more like a peanut with a heartbeat than an actual person."

_A peanut with a heartbeat._ Well, that was a good place to start. Because he knew he would screw up sometimes, but he was going to love that little peanut with everything he had, and play it silly songs on the guitar, and buy it way too many presents, and make sure that no one so much as hurt one hair on its head.

He felt a big goofy grin spreading across his face, and suddenly remembered Habib's smile from that afternoon. The little fucker had known! He'd guessed exactly what was up with Mac, and he hadn't so much as given Will a hint. Well no, that wasn't fair; he'd actually given Will several hints which he'd been too dumb to take. Still, he was gonna wipe the smug smile right off of Habib's face the next time he saw him. Except maybe he wasn't, because Jake was Abe's son, and Abe had been a good father. And Will was going to be a good father too.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey, so I finally wrote that epilogue that has been floating around in my head for a while. I'd love to hear what you think of it. I know some people have strong opinions about baby fics, but Emily Mortimer did say that she thought Mac should have Will's baby this season!_

* * *

_Seven months later . . ._

"UuuunnnGGGGGGH!"

The noise coming from Mackenzie's mouth was inhuman, and Will could feel every muscle in her body tensing in pain as another contraction struck. She was kneeling up on the bed in the delivery room, facing the wall, dressed in nothing but one of his old t-shirts. Will was kneeling behind her, his arms wrapped around her for support. She'd started off on all fours on the bed, but after a few hours her arms were shaking so badly that Will feared she was going to collapse, and so he'd climbed up behind her and held her back against his chest. It made it easier for her to rake his arms with her nails when a really bad contraction hit, but Will didn't care. He just wanted this to end, and for Mac to be okay.

He had to stop himself from screaming at the midwife to _do something, for fuck's sake! _Mac was in so much pain, and he couldn't help her, other than by holding her and whispering words of comfort and encouragement in her ear. It wasn't enough. He knew giving birth was supposed to hurt, he wasn't an idiot, but this was something else. The pregnancy hadn't been a cakewalk either, and she had been tired even before her waters had broken the night before.

The first trimester had been really rough on Mac. Her job was way too demanding for someone who was throwing up most mornings and almost passing out with fatigue by the time the show wrapped in the evenings. Will had half-carried her into their apartment on more than a few occasions, before tucking her up in bed with a grilled cheese sandwich and an ice cold juice that she was often too tired to eat or drink. He'd started seriously toying with the idea of firing her temporarily just so that she would rest, when the second trimester had rolled around and given her a break.

She suddenly had her old energy and sparkle back, and she was even staying awake long enough in the evenings to eat Will's lovingly prepared meals. Her libido had also come rushing back with a vengeance. Will recalled her rolling off him after one particularly vigorous session, saying with a breathless giggle, "I would have let you knock me up years ago if I'd known I could have that many orgasms in a row."

The pregnancy sex was even better than it was cracked up to be, but as his anxiety about Mac's health subsided, it left more room in his head to worry about what sort of father he was going to be. He'd been so high on relief and joy the night that Mac had told him about the baby, that he'd felt as though he could conquer the world, but now he was afraid that he was going to mess this kid up as badly as his Dad had messed him up. It had taken many sessions with Habib to reassure him that kids didn't need perfection, they just needed someone to love them and take care of them, and that he and Mac were more than capable of fulfilling both those requirements.

Mac's third trimester had brought a return of her fatigue. Will thought she looked incredible, with her gently rounded stomach and full breasts providing a sexy contrast to her amazing, long legs, but she complained that she felt like a beached whale. He started helping her on with her shoes in the mornings, and the look on her face the first time she asked him to find her a pair of flats from the back of her closet, rather than the sky high heels she normally wore, almost broke his heart. He hurriedly kissed her feet and promised to buy her all the Manolos and Jimmy Choos she wanted as soon as the baby was born.

It had been hard for her to find a comfortable position to sleep in for the last month or so, and the middle of the night often found him rubbing the small of her back and softly singing her favorite songs in an effort to lull her to sleep. Then last night, just as he hoped she was drifting off, there had been a strange wetness in the bed, followed by Mac's "Uh, Billy, I think that was my waters breaking."

He'd jumped up and grabbed for his cell phone to call 911, but Mac had reached out a hand to stop him, reminding him that the baby wouldn't be coming for hours yet and asking him to run her a bath.

She'd labored all night, first in the tub at home, then in the cab (driven by a terrified guy who Will had to pay $500 to let a grunting and groaning, heavily pregnant woman into his cab), and finally on the hospital bed. Will was half dead with fatigue, so he couldn't even begin to imagine how Mac was feeling.

The contraction finally passed off and Mac slumped forwards, hanging limply in his arms and sobbing quietly to herself. _Fuck, now she was crying too?_ Will couldn't take it anymore. He'd tried so hard to support Mac's desire for a drug free birth, but this was ridiculous. Surely no one could survive this much pain for this long.

"Please, Mac," he begged, pulling her more tightly against him and smoothing her sweat soaked hair back from her forehead. "Please, sweetheart, you've done an amazing job, but don't you think it's time for the epidural now?"

She shook her head, beyond words. The midwife, who had been pretty hands off so far at Mac's request, stepped forward and lifted the hem of the t-shirt so that she could examine Mac.

"I don't think you need to worry about the epidural," she said, looking up at them with a bright smile. "It's time to have this baby."

"Oh, thank God for that!" Mac sighed wearily.

"Now, William, how about you come around in front of Mackenzie so that she can hold on to you while she pushes?" the midwife continued in the overly cheery voice that made Will want to punch her in the face. His wife was in _agony_, for Chrissakes. Did she have to sound so goddamn happy about it?

Nonetheless, he eased off the bed, leaving one hand on Mac's back so that she wouldn't fall. His knee screamed at the change in position, but he figured that now wasn't the time to complain about it. The midwife made way for him to climb back up on to the bed in front of Mac. He pulled her towards him, and she came gratefully, sighing into his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He slid his arms under hers and around her back so that he could once more take most of her weight. She was shaking and shivering, and he was terrified that she wouldn't have the strength left to push the baby out. He shoved that thought aside and tried to focus on her. He kissed her cheek and whispered "I love you so much Mac. I've got you. You can do this."

And then they were off again. Mac clutched at his neck with the strength of ten women as the next contraction hit, and gave another one of those crazy deep grunts as the midwife encouraged her to hold her breath and push down hard when she felt the urge.

Will held her tight and added his own encouragement. "C'mon Mac, nearly there, you can do it, you can do anything. You're almost there." He prayed that he was right. He'd read that women could push for up to two hours with a first baby, but surely Mac's strength couldn't hold out for that long?

What felt like hours later, but was probably only about thirty minutes, Mac let out a high scream of pain that Will knew he would remember to his dying day. Panicking, he looked down at the midwife, who was kneeling beside the bed. _What in the fuck was happening now_? The stupid woman was smiling and nodding. "That's it Mackenzie, the head's out, you've done the hardest bit."

Mac muttered the worst curse word she knew and slumped against Will. Shifting her a little so that he could see, he looked down between their bodies, and sure enough, there was a head between his wife's legs. Okay, that was a sight that was going to take his brain some time to process. Still, Mac was still alive, which was the main thing as far as he was concerned.

"That's it love, almost there. You can do it," he encouraged.

"Great job Mackenzie. Just give me one more good push with the next contraction and your baby will be born," said the midwife.

Mac gave one last, almighty push, digging her hands into Will's shoulders with the effort, and then the midwife was passing a screaming, slimy pink bundle up through Mac's legs and into her arms.

Will kept hold of Mac as she cradled their child to her chest. _Thank God that was over_, he thought, his whole body shaking with relief. He didn't care if they had to use five kinds of contraception from now on, he was _never _putting Mac through that again.

Mac, who was shushing and rocking the baby, looked up at Will with exhausted eyes that were somehow still glowing. "Oh Will," she breathed, "It's a little girl."

_Thank God_, _a little girl_. Will hadn't told Mac just how much he was praying for a girl, partly because he wanted a daughter who was just like Mac, and partly so that there would be no chance of him recreating the sort of relationship that he had had with his father (not that he would _ever _hit his child, but there were other ways to mess someone up, he knew).

"A little girl? Oh Mac," he said, his eyes moist. He bent down to press a gentle kiss to the top of his daughter's head. Right now she was kind of red and squirmy and covered in goo, but he just knew she was going to grow up to be as beautiful and strong and smart and _amazing _as her mother. He drew his wife more tightly into his arms, careful not squish the baby between them, and gave Mac a tender kiss. He sat back, chuckling, as his daughter let out a loud wail of protest. Well, everyone _had_ predicted that they would have a strong willed child. He wouldn't want to disappoint them.

Mac sat back on the bed with some help from the midwife, lifted her t-shirt and brought the baby to her breast to nurse. It was the most beautiful sight Will had ever seen. He had no idea why God had suddenly decided to make him the luckiest schmuck on earth, but he wasn't going to argue with the big man upstairs. He had a family now, and he would protect them and love them with every fiber of his being. Mac hadn't been cheating on him, he reflected, of course she hadn't. She had been completing him. He just hadn't known it yet.


End file.
